Ethiopian Prelates (d. 1803- d. 1867)

Kolmodin, J. Traditions de Tsazzega et Hazzega: Annales et documents 3, p. A44. Uppsala, 1914.
Maly, Z. "The Visit of Martin Lang, Czech Franciscan, in Gondar in 1752." Journal of Ethiopian Studies 10, no. 2 (1972):17-25.
Raineri, O. "La breve relazione del viaggio in Etiopia di Remedio Prutky scritta il 15.12.1756." Quaderni di studi etiopici 3-4 (1982-1983):189-90.
YOSAB II (d. 1803)
Yosab's metropolitanate included the first part of the period called the Age of the Princes (Zamana Masafent, 1769-1855). During this period the Ethiopian state declined to its lowest level. The kingdom was from this time infiltrated at every point by the people of Oromo (or Galla). Quarrelsome and plundering regional chiefs disputed the wreckage of power, while the negus belonging to the so-called Solomonic dynasty declined to the rank of nominal sovereign, a puppet king maintaining himself on the throne only with the support of a regent protector. In this anarchy, and for want of the support of the throne, the exercise of the duties of the metropolitan became arduous, and Yosab II had to suffer the consequences of this state of affairs.
Yosab arrived in Ethiopia toward the beginning of 1770, in the reign of Negus Takla Haymanot II (1769-1777), when the "Protector
of the Throne" was the ras Mika’el Sehul, chief of Tigre and effective master of the kingdom. At the time of Yosab II's arrival, the ras Mika’el tried to induce him to fix his seat in Tigre, but after some time, the metropolitan decided to go to Gonder, which he entered on 13 Sane 1762 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 18 June 1770). From then on, during more than thirty-three years, Yosab II was involved in the events of the religious and political life of a state in decomposition. Several items of information about his episcopate survive, but they give only a fragmentary picture, for they come above all from the royal chronicle of this period, an incoherent text
written by several different hands. Thus, there is a dearth of information about the first part of his episcopate, which unfolded during the reign of Negus Salomon II (1777-1779) and the first reign of Takla Giyorgis I (1779-1784), a sovereign whom circumstances were to bring to the occupancy of the throne of Ethiopia six times over. It is known only that the metropolitan took part in the ceremony that marked the accession to the throne of Negus Iyyasu III (1784-1788).
In 1792, during the reign of Negus Hezqeyas (1789-1794), Yosab II, supported by the eccage Walda Iyasus, abbot of the monks
forming the order of Takla Haymanot, and by certain notables, took the lead in a movement of reaction against the influence of the
Oromo, who had infiltrated even into the state administration. This movement demanded the material separation of the Christians from the Oromo, who were Islamicized or often still pagans; but the movement came to nothing because of the lack of cohesion among its promoters. The incident was to end with a reconciliation between Christians and Oromo.
Toward the beginning of 1795, during the third reign of Takla Giyorgis I (1794-1795), Walda Gabr’el, chief of Tigre and son of the ras Mika’el Sehul, attacked the negus in his very palace at Gonder; peace could only be preserved by the intervention of the metropolitan. Shortly afterward, on 12 Genbot 1787 (A.D. 18 May 1795) at Gonder, Yosab II crowned Negus Ba’eda Maryam II, who
however reigned only a few months (May 1795-December 1795).
When Negus Yonas was deposed at the end of a very short reign (August 1797-January 1798), he took refuge in the house of the
metropolitan, a place enjoying the right of asylum, while Negus Takla Giyorgis I reoccupied the throne for the fifth time (January
1798-May 1799). Shortly afterward, this negus was threatened by a rebel named Wahdu; although excommunicated by the metropolitan Yosab II and by the new eccage, Walda Yona, Wahdu dared to break into the metropolitan's house to possess himself of Negus Yonas, whom he counted on replacing on the throne at his own disposal. He was, however, surprised to discover that Takla Giyorgis I had preceded him; he had taken possession of the person of Yonas to transport him elsewhere. This violation of the right of asylum is an indication of the decadence of the dynasty and of the decline in the prestige attaching to the charge of metropolitan. For his part, however, Yosab II did all in his power to arrest that decline, and his action registered some successes. Toward the end of 1799, during the first reign of Negus Demetros (June 1799-March 1800), Amade Qwalasi, chief of a pagan Oromo tribe, advanced toward Gonder at the head of his troops; in the general disarray, Yosab II ventured to go out to meet Amade and addressed to him a firm and very dignified speech, as a result of which Amade renounced the plundering of the capital and withdrew his troops.
Toward the beginning of the reign of Negus Egwala Seyon, called Gwalu, a nominal sovereign invested with the title King of Kings from June 1801 to June 1818, the Christological quarrel blazed up anew. The eccage Walda Yona adhered to the doctrine of sost ledat (three births), and Yosab II, faithful to the principles of the Coptic church, did not hesitate to excommunicate him; then, in the hope of ending the quarrel, which continued to tear the Ethiopian clergy apart, the metropolitan tried to impose the doctrine of hult
ledat (two births) by launching a general excommunication against all those who should not have adopted it. But a large part of the
clergy rebelled and caused the metropolitan to be exiled to an island on Lake Tana. Old and weary, and recognizing that it was impossible for him to bring a general reconciliation into effect, Yosab II ended by retracting the excommunication: "Since all the world admits in Jesus a unique nature, as I admit myself, let each one remain in his own belief." His episcopal seat was then restored
to him.
According to the royal chronicle, Abuna Yosab II died on 1 Maskaram 1796 (A.D. 11 September 1803) and was buried at Gonder in the Quddus Gabr’el church. According to some traditions, a week after his death, toward midnight, a heavenly light descended on his tomb, as if to confirm the sanctity of his long episcopate. As for the eccage Walda Yona, immediately after Yosab's death he in his turn imposed excommunication on all those who had not followed the doctrine of the three births, but the doctrinal quarrel was destined to continue for a long time after.
It may be noted that a few days after the death of Yosab II the dajjazmac (later ras) Gugsa, an Oromo from Yajju who in that same
year became "Protector of the Throne," took possession of the metropolitan's goods on the pretext that they were to serve to cover
the costs of obtaining from the Coptic patriarchate a new metropolitan. This action was scarcely pleasing to the chief of Tigre, the ras Walda Sellase, who decided to march on Gonder with his troops. Caught unawares, Gugsa made haste to pay over to him five
hundred ounces of gold in the guise of compensation for the metropolitan's goods confiscated by him. In 1805, Walda Sellase
related to the British traveler Henry Salt that to this sum he had added from his own funds a considerable amount and that he had
sent the whole to the Coptic patriarchate with the object of obtaining the new metropolitan. This story of Walda Sellase probably contains the explanation of a historical problem: some traditional lists of the metropolitans of Ethiopia indicate as successor to Yosab II a prelate called Maqaryos (Macarius), of whom there is no trace in other documents. One of these lists adds that "Maqaryos died en route, after his disembarking, before he had begun to ordain the priests." This is probably the metropolitan requested by Walda Sellase about 1805. In any case, since he never began to exercise his functions, Maqaryos cannot be counted among the metropolitans of the church of Ethiopia.
The successor of Yosab II was Abuna Qerelos II, who was likewise requested by the ras Walda Sellase.
QERELOS II (d. 1828)
Qerelos became metropolitan during the Age of the Princes (Zamana Masafent, 1796-1855), a period during which the Ethiopian state sank into anarchy. Powerless to control the various regional chiefs, the sovereigns of the Solomonic dynasty reigned only nominally, the country being in fact at the mercy of a "Protector of the Throne," the military chief most powerful among those who disputed for scraps of power.
Information about Qerelos II and his episcopate comes primarily from the royal chronicle of Ethiopia for the years 1800-1840. But since it is fragmentary, this information gives only an incomplete picture. A new metropolitan had been requested by the ras Walda
Sallase, lord of Tigre, who was making his second request to this end, for ten years earlier (a little before 1805) his first attempt to fill the void left by the death of the Abuna Yosab II had not succeeded. This second attempt had a favorable result: in the course of the year 1815, the Coptic patriarch PETER VI (1809-1852) named and consecrated for Ethiopia a monk calling himself Qerelos, who
reached Massawa in November of the same year and made his entry to Calaqot, the residence of the ras Walda Sellase, on 3 Yakkatit 1808 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 10 February 1816), or a little before the death of the old ras, which took place on 24 Genbot (31 May) of the same year.
Qerelos II began by residing in Tigre for about three years, but without winning the hearts of his flock. Meanwhile, at Gonder there
grew a need for the abun, for since the death of Yosab II, there had not been in the capital any ordinations of priests or consecrations of new sellat (slabs). (In the Ethiopian church the sellat, placed in the tabot, is the movable shelf of the altar with the ten commandments inscribed on it, and its consecration by the bishop makes a holy place of the new church in which this shelf is placed.) Summoned by Negus Iyyo’as II (1818-1821) and by the ras Gugsa, who was Protector of the Throne, Qerelos II went to Gonder, where he made his entry on 17 Sane 1811 (A.D. 23 June 1819), and began by ordaining many priests and consecrating several tabot. But his coming launched at Gonder a revival of the Christological quarrel: the majority of the monks of the capital followed the doctrine of Ya-sagga lej (Son by Grace) and the doctrine of sost ledat (three births), but when it was demanded of Qerelos II that he make known his views on the subject, he could not avoid rejecting these doctrines and excommunicating those who followed them. Since the clergy of the capital protested vigorously against the metropolitan's decisions, it was decided to submit the questions to a synod held at Gonder in the presence of Negus Iyyo’as II, toward the beginning of 1820. The defender of the theses condemned by the metropolitan was the abbot of the monastic order founded by Takla Haymanot, the eccage Walda Yona, the former fierce adversary of the Abuna Yosab II. Before the synod, the metropolitan could only confirm the doctrine of karra (knife), which was that prescribed by the Coptic patriarchate and had been defended by his two predecessors. Harshly attacked by the adversaries, the metropolitan asked for a delay to answer all the objections. He was then asked to begin by retracting the general excommunication he had launched, but as soon as he had pronounced this retraction, he was himself excommunicated by Walda Yona and expelled from Gonder by order of the negus and the Protector of the Throne. Qerelos II retired again to Tigre, where from that time he resided until his death.
In Tigre, the period of confusion that had followed the death of the ras Walda Sellase came to an end when one of his lieutenants,
the dajjazmac Sabagadis, was able to seize the power. The majority of the clergy of Tigre then supported the doctrine of unction, but Sabagadis, acting above all on political considerations, decided to adhere to the principles defended by the metropolitan, that is, the doctrine of karra. This friendly understanding proved advantageous for both parties; immediately most of the clergy of Tigre followed the example of Sabagadis. The religious who did not allow themselves to be convinced were expelled and took refuge at
Gonder. On his side, the metropolitan obtained several material advantages from his support of Sabagadis. But some time later,
relations between the two men deteriorated, so much so that when the metropolitan suddenly disappeared, the rumor spread that he was dead and that his death was due to poisoning ordered by Sabagadis. The grounds for this rumor seem questionable. Abba Takla Haymanot of Memsah, a priest who, after having adhered to Catholicism, wrote a kind of history of this period, recorded another version of the metropolitan's death: Qerelos II is said to have been poisoned by the azzaz Taklu, a local chief and vassal of Sabagadis, because he coveted certain lands of the village of Addi Abun, a traditional fief of the metropolitans, and had experienced violent disputes with the metropolitan.
The exact date of his death is not known, but since the royal chronicle states that his episcopate lasted for about thirteen years, one may deduce that Qerelos II died toward the end of 1828. After his death, Ethiopia remained once more without a metropolitan for about thirteen years, until the arrival in 1841 of Abuna Salama III.
SALAMA III (d. 1867)
Salama served as metropolitan toward the end of the period of anarchy called Zamana Masafent, or Age of the Princes (1769- 1855), and during the reign of Negus Tewodros II (1855-1868). After the death of Abuna Qerelos II in 1828, Ethiopia remained
without a metropolitan for nearly thirteen years. The political power was then parceled out among various pretenders: in northern
Ethiopia the dajjazmac Sabagadis, chief of Tigre, had entered into conflict against the dajjazmac Webe Khayla Maryam, chief of Semen, but had been defeated and killed in February 1831; having become lord of the united Tigre and Semen, Webe nourished great ambitions; knowing that the Protector of the Throne at Gonder, the ras Ali II, an Oromo originating from Yajju and nominally a
Christian, was in no hurry to request a new metropolitan from Cairo because the Christological doctrines of the clergy of Gonder differed from those of the Coptic patriarchate, Webe himself sent to Egypt a request for a new metropolitan. In fact, since the doctrine of the clergy of Tigre was in conformity with that of the patriarchate, Webe counted on availing himself of the prestige attached to the metropolitanate to supplant the hegemony of the ras Ali II and prepare for his own ascent toward the supreme throne. Webe's delegation to Egypt was accompanied by a Catholic priest, Monsignor Giustino de Jacobis, a Lazarist.
The Coptic patriarch PETER VII (1809-1852) consecrated for Ethiopia a very young monk named Andrawus, who had frequented
the Protestant school opened in Cairo in 1826 by the Church Missionary Society of England, which explains the inclination this
prelate later had for the Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia. Barely a score of years in age, the new metropolitan took the name Salama III in honor of the first bishop of the Ethiopian church. Several Europeans were present at the first steps of this metropolitan in Ethiopia and have left accounts of the period. Salama reached Adwa, the principal seat of Webe, on 19 November 1841; he was
there received with pomp, but this first phase of his episcopate was very short: in February 1842, Webe, accompanied by the abun, invaded the Bagemder and marched on Dabra Tabor, seat of the ras Ali, where he was defeated.
Salama fell into the hands of the victor, who decided to use him at Gonder, where the metropolitan made his entry on 25 February.
But there the metropolitan ran into grave difficulties, for the majority of the clergy of the capital followed Christological doctrines contrary to those of the patriarchate. In particular, the most prestigious of the monastic orders, that founded by the sainted Takla
Haymanot, followed the doctrine of Ya-sagga lej (Son by Grace). Salama III was not long in rebelling against this situation, and
excommunicated both the eccage Mahsantu and his chief partisan, the king Sahla Sellase, lord of Shewa, the region in which was
situated Dabra Libanos, the principal monastery of the order.
The crisis reached its height in 1846 when the abun was summoned to revoke the excommunications he had launched. Salama refused, and so the monks marched on the metropolitan's house and violated its traditional right of asylum. Salama was then
arrested and exiled to Tigre (3 June 1846) by order of the etege (queen, or wife of a king) Manan, who was anxious to preserve
order; Manan was the mother of the ras Ali II and governed the capital after having espoused in a second marriage the negus Yohannes III, nominal sovereign of Gonder.
In Tigre, the metropolitan was once again favorably welcomed by Webe, who, encouraged by his presence, reopened hostilities
against the ras Ali. But Webe was once again defeated, and his relations with Salama were not slow to deteriorate. In fact, Webe
tended to favor the Catholic missionaries (the Lazarists), in the hope that by so doing, France would support his designs on the supreme throne. Salama nourished so profound an aversion for the Catholic missions that he ended by maintaining relations with Webe's adversaries. In 1847 the metropolitan prudently retired to Dabra Damo, a monastery hewn out of rock, with a very difficult access, and excommunicated Webe. In reprisal, Webe seized the goods and the fiefs of the metropolitan, but toward the end of 1848, recognizing the impossibility of realizing his ambitions without the metropolitan's support, Webe went to Dabra Damo, where he succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with Salama. Webe then had to fulfil the condition that Salama had imposed on him: the
expulsion from Tigre of the Catholic missionaries.
Meanwhile, there rose the star of Kasa Khaylu (the future King of Kings Tewodros II), who passed rapidly from success to success,
so much so that by 1850 he ranked as the principal adversary of the ras Ali. One may deduce from the documents available that from 1849 Kasa Khaylu had allied himself with the metropolitan and passed for a partisan of the Christological doctrine defended by
Salama. Each of the two allies drew from this understanding the anticipated profits. After eliminating one after another almost all his
adversaries, including the ras Ali II, Kasa summoned Salama, who returned to Gonder on 1 June 1854. Shortly afterward, under Kasa's auspices, the new eccage became reconciled with the metropolitan. Finally, Kasa convened at Amba Cara, not far from Gonder, a council of the representatives of the various doctrinal tendencies. The council confirmed the Unionist doctrine, which was the one defended by the metropolitan, and rejected the contrary thesis. In conclusion, on 19 August 1854, Kasa proclaimed as official the doctrine adopted by the council, while Salama solemnly anathematized all the contrary doctrines. Having thus restored unity to the bosom of the clergy, Kasa prepared to combat his last adversary, Webe. He invaded Semen, Webe's traditional fief, and the latter hastened from Tigre. At the confrontation that took place at Darasge on 9 February 1855, Webe was decisively defeated, and the victor had himself anointed King of Kings by Salama in the church of Darasge Maryam, near the field of battle. The new sovereign of Ethiopia then took the royal name of Tewodros II.
In return for the support furnished to Kasa at the time of his winning the throne, Salama had obtained from him the promise that
he would support him in his struggle against his two principal adversaries: the groups of monks who continued to defend the
anathematized doctrines and the Catholic missionaries. It was thus that Salama first accompanied Tewodros to Shewa where the King of Kings, having subjected that region, imposed on all the local clergy the official Christological doctrine. In addition, Salama had
the Lazarist bishop Giustino de Jacobis expelled from Gonder, together with the other Catholic missionaries; further, he succeeded
in persuading Tewodros to welcome with goodwill some Protestant missionaries. But Salama's hostility to Roman Catholicism only
rendered more concrete the support furnished by France to the Catholic missionaries and indirectly intensified the support furnished by Great Britain to the Protestant missionaries and to Salama. Thus, from the beginning of the reign of Tewodros II, there arose a climate of tension between the negus and the metropolitan.
The relations between Salama and Tewodros, which had never been perfect, were not long in deteriorating because the sovereign's
great political plan contrasted with the interests of the Ethiopian church: Tewodros, who never concealed his contempt for the clergy, dreamed of creating a powerful empire, equipped with a large national army, which would have allowed him to subdue any
adversary and to repel Islam once and for all. He counted on realizing this plan by utilizing the resources of the church and reducing its influence on the Ethiopian people. This design could not be accepted by Salama. The violent and suspicious character of Tewodros contributed to the creation of a rupture between the negus and the metropolitan. This rupture became evident at the end of 1856 at the time of the visit to Ethiopia by the Coptic patriarch CYRIL IV (1854-1861).
This was a visit out of the ordinary on two grounds: first, because this was the first time that a Coptic patriarch had come to Ethiopia and, second, because Cyril IV already knew Ethiopia, for he had gone there in 1850 when he was called only Dawud and was no more than the superior of the Monastery of Saint Antony (DAYR ANBA ANTUNIYUS). On that earlier occasion, he had been sent to
Ethiopia by the patriarch PETER VII (1809-1852) with the aim of reversing the effects of a doctrinal order that had set Salama III in
opposition to part of the clergy and of asking the negus to contribute to the expenses that the patriarchate had to bear at Jerusalem to help the Ethiopian pilgrims. The details of this first mission are not known, but apparently it was unfruitful.
The high Coptic prelate's second mission to Ethiopia proved full of incident. The documents available are silent in regard to the precise aims of the mission, but the history of the Copts permits some deductions. The viceroy of Egypt, Sa‘id Pasha (1854-1863),
was inclined not to pursue in the south the policy of expansion adopted by his father, Muhammad ‘Ali. He had therefore downgraded the Egyptian administration over Sudanese territory and reduced his army in the Sudan to the level of a gendarmerie. This policy presupposed a friendly policy on the part of Emperor Tewodros II, who, however, did not cease to proclaim himself the enemy of Islam. Hence, Sa‘id thought to send Cyril IV to Tewodros with an offer of friendship.
The Coptic patriarch accepted this mission, for he, too, had a plan. In January 1856, with the aim of forming a national army, Sa‘id had decreed that all young Copts, like young Muslims, were to do military service. The Copts, who for centuries had been exempt
from any military obligation, were greatly disturbed by this decree, in which they saw only an indirect way of persecuting them. Hence, Cyril IV accepted the mission in the hope also of inducing Tewodros to intervene with Sa‘id and get him to revoke the decree.
The two objects of the mission were not attained; indeed, it had results opposite to those hoped for. From the time of his arrival in
Ethiopia in December 1856, the patriarch, in agreement with Abuna Salama III, drafted a letter in which Tewodros, accepting Sa‘id's
friendship, invited him to release the young Copts enrolled by force in the Egyptian army and declared himself disposed to receive from Egypt a certain number of civil and military "workers" (today called "consultants"). Suspecting that Cyril was in the service of Sa‘id as a spy and even a secret agent of Islam, Tewodros refused to sign the letter. His rage became fully manifest when Cyril expressed the desire to see the negus's troops; convinced of the justice of his suspicions, Tewodros had Cyril IV and Salama III imprisoned. Then he had the patriarch's baggage searched and plundered. Five days later, on 16 January 1857, following the intervention of the Ethiopian clergy, there was a public and solemn reconciliation. Recognizing that he had been too impulsive, Tewodros liberated the two prelates and allowed Cyril IV to bless him, but the patriarch was scarcely authorized to leave Ethiopia. In October of the same year, following a new dispute with Tewodros, Salama publicly excommunicated all those who had followed the negus in his actions contrary to the interests of the clergy. It was Cyril IV who put an end to this new crisis by raising the excommunication, and this, it is said, despite Salama's advice to the contrary. Shortly afterward, the negus authorized the patriarch's departure (November 1857), and in fact he returned to Egypt in 1858.
Salama's prestige continued gradually to decline. Tewodros inflexibly pursued the realization of his grand design and especially his plan aimed at reducing the prestige of the church to make it an instrument totally subject to the state. Since Salama and the clergy
had long striven against the proceedings of the negus, they were accused of being the origin of all resistance to Tewodros'
authoritarian regime. They replied by often accusing the negus of acting "like a Muslim." This tension reached its highest point in
1864: knowing that Salama was maintaining relations with his adversaries (notably Menelik, king of Shewa, and Gobaze, lord of
Wag), Tewodros had the metropolitan imprisoned on the amba (mountain top) of Maqdala, the mountain on which the King of
Kings was preparing to entrench himself to resist increasing difficulties in both foreign and domestic affairs. As for the clergy of Gonder, it had to stand by powerless at the plundering of the capital (1864) and its devastation (1966) by order of the negus himself.
The circumstances of the end of Tewodros II, who committed suicide at Maqdala on 13 April 1868 in the face of a British expeditionary corps commanded by General Robert Napier, are well known. But Salama III was not present at this event, for he had died in his prison at Maqdala on 25 October 1867 at about the age of forty-six years, sorely tried by the privations undergone during his imprisonment. Salama III remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of Ethiopia in the nineteenth century.
The successor of this metropolitan was Abuna Atnatewos.
ATNATEWOS (d. 1876)
Atnatewos was the immediate successor of the Abuna Salama
III, who died in 1867. On the death of Negus Tewodros II on 13
April 1868, at the end of a military campaign conducted against him
by British troops, the two principal rivals for the throne of Ethiopia
were Gobaze Gabra Madkhen, Wagsum (or lord of Wag), and his
brother-in-law Kasa Merca, master of Tigre. Each of them was well
aware that to have any chance of acceding to the supreme throne, it
was necessary to send a delegation to Cairo to obtain from the

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Kolmodin, J. Traditions de Tsazzega et Hazzega: Annales et documents 3, p. A44. Uppsala, 1914.
Maly, Z. "The Visit of Martin Lang, Czech Franciscan, in Gondar in 1752." Journal of Ethiopian Studies 10, no. 2 (1972):17-25.
Raineri, O. "La breve relazione del viaggio in Etiopia di Remedio Prutky scritta il 15.12.1756." Quaderni di studi etiopici 3-4 (1982-1983):189-90.
YOSAB II (d. 1803)
Yosab's metropolitanate included the first part of the period called the Age of the Princes (Zamana Masafent, 1769-1855). During this period the Ethiopian state declined to its lowest level. The kingdom was from this time infiltrated at every point by the people of Oromo (or Galla). Quarrelsome and plundering regional chiefs disputed the wreckage of power, while the negus belonging to the so-called Solomonic dynasty declined to the rank of nominal sovereign, a puppet king maintaining himself on the throne only with the support of a regent protector. In this anarchy, and for want of the support of the throne, the exercise of the duties of the metropolitan became arduous, and Yosab II had to suffer the consequences of this state of affairs.
Yosab arrived in Ethiopia toward the beginning of 1770, in the reign of Negus Takla Haymanot II (1769-1777), when the "Protector
of the Throne" was the ras Mika’el Sehul, chief of Tigre and effective master of the kingdom. At the time of Yosab II's arrival, the ras Mika’el tried to induce him to fix his seat in Tigre, but after some time, the metropolitan decided to go to Gonder, which he entered on 13 Sane 1762 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 18 June 1770). From then on, during more than thirty-three years, Yosab II was involved in the events of the religious and political life of a state in decomposition. Several items of information about his episcopate survive, but they give only a fragmentary picture, for they come above all from the royal chronicle of this period, an incoherent text
written by several different hands. Thus, there is a dearth of information about the first part of his episcopate, which unfolded during the reign of Negus Salomon II (1777-1779) and the first reign of Takla Giyorgis I (1779-1784), a sovereign whom circumstances were to bring to the occupancy of the throne of Ethiopia six times over. It is known only that the metropolitan took part in the ceremony that marked the accession to the throne of Negus Iyyasu III (1784-1788).
In 1792, during the reign of Negus Hezqeyas (1789-1794), Yosab II, supported by the eccage Walda Iyasus, abbot of the monks
forming the order of Takla Haymanot, and by certain notables, took the lead in a movement of reaction against the influence of the
Oromo, who had infiltrated even into the state administration. This movement demanded the material separation of the Christians from the Oromo, who were Islamicized or often still pagans; but the movement came to nothing because of the lack of cohesion among its promoters. The incident was to end with a reconciliation between Christians and Oromo.
Toward the beginning of 1795, during the third reign of Takla Giyorgis I (1794-1795), Walda Gabr’el, chief of Tigre and son of the ras Mika’el Sehul, attacked the negus in his very palace at Gonder; peace could only be preserved by the intervention of the metropolitan. Shortly afterward, on 12 Genbot 1787 (A.D. 18 May 1795) at Gonder, Yosab II crowned Negus Ba’eda Maryam II, who
however reigned only a few months (May 1795-December 1795).
When Negus Yonas was deposed at the end of a very short reign (August 1797-January 1798), he took refuge in the house of the
metropolitan, a place enjoying the right of asylum, while Negus Takla Giyorgis I reoccupied the throne for the fifth time (January
1798-May 1799). Shortly afterward, this negus was threatened by a rebel named Wahdu; although excommunicated by the metropolitan Yosab II and by the new eccage, Walda Yona, Wahdu dared to break into the metropolitan's house to possess himself of Negus Yonas, whom he counted on replacing on the throne at his own disposal. He was, however, surprised to discover that Takla Giyorgis I had preceded him; he had taken possession of the person of Yonas to transport him elsewhere. This violation of the right of asylum is an indication of the decadence of the dynasty and of the decline in the prestige attaching to the charge of metropolitan. For his part, however, Yosab II did all in his power to arrest that decline, and his action registered some successes. Toward the end of 1799, during the first reign of Negus Demetros (June 1799-March 1800), Amade Qwalasi, chief of a pagan Oromo tribe, advanced toward Gonder at the head of his troops; in the general disarray, Yosab II ventured to go out to meet Amade and addressed to him a firm and very dignified speech, as a result of which Amade renounced the plundering of the capital and withdrew his troops.
Toward the beginning of the reign of Negus Egwala Seyon, called Gwalu, a nominal sovereign invested with the title King of Kings from June 1801 to June 1818, the Christological quarrel blazed up anew. The eccage Walda Yona adhered to the doctrine of sost ledat (three births), and Yosab II, faithful to the principles of the Coptic church, did not hesitate to excommunicate him; then, in the hope of ending the quarrel, which continued to tear the Ethiopian clergy apart, the metropolitan tried to impose the doctrine of hult
ledat (two births) by launching a general excommunication against all those who should not have adopted it. But a large part of the
clergy rebelled and caused the metropolitan to be exiled to an island on Lake Tana. Old and weary, and recognizing that it was impossible for him to bring a general reconciliation into effect, Yosab II ended by retracting the excommunication: "Since all the world admits in Jesus a unique nature, as I admit myself, let each one remain in his own belief." His episcopal seat was then restored
to him.
According to the royal chronicle, Abuna Yosab II died on 1 Maskaram 1796 (A.D. 11 September 1803) and was buried at Gonder in the Quddus Gabr’el church. According to some traditions, a week after his death, toward midnight, a heavenly light descended on his tomb, as if to confirm the sanctity of his long episcopate. As for the eccage Walda Yona, immediately after Yosab's death he in his turn imposed excommunication on all those who had not followed the doctrine of the three births, but the doctrinal quarrel was destined to continue for a long time after.
It may be noted that a few days after the death of Yosab II the dajjazmac (later ras) Gugsa, an Oromo from Yajju who in that same
year became "Protector of the Throne," took possession of the metropolitan's goods on the pretext that they were to serve to cover
the costs of obtaining from the Coptic patriarchate a new metropolitan. This action was scarcely pleasing to the chief of Tigre, the ras Walda Sellase, who decided to march on Gonder with his troops. Caught unawares, Gugsa made haste to pay over to him five
hundred ounces of gold in the guise of compensation for the metropolitan's goods confiscated by him. In 1805, Walda Sellase
related to the British traveler Henry Salt that to this sum he had added from his own funds a considerable amount and that he had
sent the whole to the Coptic patriarchate with the object of obtaining the new metropolitan. This story of Walda Sellase probably contains the explanation of a historical problem: some traditional lists of the metropolitans of Ethiopia indicate as successor to Yosab II a prelate called Maqaryos (Macarius), of whom there is no trace in other documents. One of these lists adds that "Maqaryos died en route, after his disembarking, before he had begun to ordain the priests." This is probably the metropolitan requested by Walda Sellase about 1805. In any case, since he never began to exercise his functions, Maqaryos cannot be counted among the metropolitans of the church of Ethiopia.
The successor of Yosab II was Abuna Qerelos II, who was likewise requested by the ras Walda Sellase.
QERELOS II (d. 1828)
Qerelos became metropolitan during the Age of the Princes (Zamana Masafent, 1796-1855), a period during which the Ethiopian state sank into anarchy. Powerless to control the various regional chiefs, the sovereigns of the Solomonic dynasty reigned only nominally, the country being in fact at the mercy of a "Protector of the Throne," the military chief most powerful among those who disputed for scraps of power.
Information about Qerelos II and his episcopate comes primarily from the royal chronicle of Ethiopia for the years 1800-1840. But since it is fragmentary, this information gives only an incomplete picture. A new metropolitan had been requested by the ras Walda
Sallase, lord of Tigre, who was making his second request to this end, for ten years earlier (a little before 1805) his first attempt to fill the void left by the death of the Abuna Yosab II had not succeeded. This second attempt had a favorable result: in the course of the year 1815, the Coptic patriarch PETER VI (1809-1852) named and consecrated for Ethiopia a monk calling himself Qerelos, who
reached Massawa in November of the same year and made his entry to Calaqot, the residence of the ras Walda Sellase, on 3 Yakkatit 1808 in the Ethiopian calendar (A.D. 10 February 1816), or a little before the death of the old ras, which took place on 24 Genbot (31 May) of the same year.
Qerelos II began by residing in Tigre for about three years, but without winning the hearts of his flock. Meanwhile, at Gonder there
grew a need for the abun, for since the death of Yosab II, there had not been in the capital any ordinations of priests or consecrations of new sellat (slabs). (In the Ethiopian church the sellat, placed in the tabot, is the movable shelf of the altar with the ten commandments inscribed on it, and its consecration by the bishop makes a holy place of the new church in which this shelf is placed.) Summoned by Negus Iyyo’as II (1818-1821) and by the ras Gugsa, who was Protector of the Throne, Qerelos II went to Gonder, where he made his entry on 17 Sane 1811 (A.D. 23 June 1819), and began by ordaining many priests and consecrating several tabot. But his coming launched at Gonder a revival of the Christological quarrel: the majority of the monks of the capital followed the doctrine of Ya-sagga lej (Son by Grace) and the doctrine of sost ledat (three births), but when it was demanded of Qerelos II that he make known his views on the subject, he could not avoid rejecting these doctrines and excommunicating those who followed them. Since the clergy of the capital protested vigorously against the metropolitan's decisions, it was decided to submit the questions to a synod held at Gonder in the presence of Negus Iyyo’as II, toward the beginning of 1820. The defender of the theses condemned by the metropolitan was the abbot of the monastic order founded by Takla Haymanot, the eccage Walda Yona, the former fierce adversary of the Abuna Yosab II. Before the synod, the metropolitan could only confirm the doctrine of karra (knife), which was that prescribed by the Coptic patriarchate and had been defended by his two predecessors. Harshly attacked by the adversaries, the metropolitan asked for a delay to answer all the objections. He was then asked to begin by retracting the general excommunication he had launched, but as soon as he had pronounced this retraction, he was himself excommunicated by Walda Yona and expelled from Gonder by order of the negus and the Protector of the Throne. Qerelos II retired again to Tigre, where from that time he resided until his death.
In Tigre, the period of confusion that had followed the death of the ras Walda Sellase came to an end when one of his lieutenants,
the dajjazmac Sabagadis, was able to seize the power. The majority of the clergy of Tigre then supported the doctrine of unction, but Sabagadis, acting above all on political considerations, decided to adhere to the principles defended by the metropolitan, that is, the doctrine of karra. This friendly understanding proved advantageous for both parties; immediately most of the clergy of Tigre followed the example of Sabagadis. The religious who did not allow themselves to be convinced were expelled and took refuge at
Gonder. On his side, the metropolitan obtained several material advantages from his support of Sabagadis. But some time later,
relations between the two men deteriorated, so much so that when the metropolitan suddenly disappeared, the rumor spread that he was dead and that his death was due to poisoning ordered by Sabagadis. The grounds for this rumor seem questionable. Abba Takla Haymanot of Memsah, a priest who, after having adhered to Catholicism, wrote a kind of history of this period, recorded another version of the metropolitan's death: Qerelos II is said to have been poisoned by the azzaz Taklu, a local chief and vassal of Sabagadis, because he coveted certain lands of the village of Addi Abun, a traditional fief of the metropolitans, and had experienced violent disputes with the metropolitan.
The exact date of his death is not known, but since the royal chronicle states that his episcopate lasted for about thirteen years, one may deduce that Qerelos II died toward the end of 1828. After his death, Ethiopia remained once more without a metropolitan for about thirteen years, until the arrival in 1841 of Abuna Salama III.
SALAMA III (d. 1867)
Salama served as metropolitan toward the end of the period of anarchy called Zamana Masafent, or Age of the Princes (1769- 1855), and during the reign of Negus Tewodros II (1855-1868). After the death of Abuna Qerelos II in 1828, Ethiopia remained
without a metropolitan for nearly thirteen years. The political power was then parceled out among various pretenders: in northern
Ethiopia the dajjazmac Sabagadis, chief of Tigre, had entered into conflict against the dajjazmac Webe Khayla Maryam, chief of Semen, but had been defeated and killed in February 1831; having become lord of the united Tigre and Semen, Webe nourished great ambitions; knowing that the Protector of the Throne at Gonder, the ras Ali II, an Oromo originating from Yajju and nominally a
Christian, was in no hurry to request a new metropolitan from Cairo because the Christological doctrines of the clergy of Gonder differed from those of the Coptic patriarchate, Webe himself sent to Egypt a request for a new metropolitan. In fact, since the doctrine of the clergy of Tigre was in conformity with that of the patriarchate, Webe counted on availing himself of the prestige attached to the metropolitanate to supplant the hegemony of the ras Ali II and prepare for his own ascent toward the supreme throne. Webe's delegation to Egypt was accompanied by a Catholic priest, Monsignor Giustino de Jacobis, a Lazarist.
The Coptic patriarch PETER VII (1809-1852) consecrated for Ethiopia a very young monk named Andrawus, who had frequented
the Protestant school opened in Cairo in 1826 by the Church Missionary Society of England, which explains the inclination this
prelate later had for the Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia. Barely a score of years in age, the new metropolitan took the name Salama III in honor of the first bishop of the Ethiopian church. Several Europeans were present at the first steps of this metropolitan in Ethiopia and have left accounts of the period. Salama reached Adwa, the principal seat of Webe, on 19 November 1841; he was
there received with pomp, but this first phase of his episcopate was very short: in February 1842, Webe, accompanied by the abun, invaded the Bagemder and marched on Dabra Tabor, seat of the ras Ali, where he was defeated.
Salama fell into the hands of the victor, who decided to use him at Gonder, where the metropolitan made his entry on 25 February.
But there the metropolitan ran into grave difficulties, for the majority of the clergy of the capital followed Christological doctrines contrary to those of the patriarchate. In particular, the most prestigious of the monastic orders, that founded by the sainted Takla
Haymanot, followed the doctrine of Ya-sagga lej (Son by Grace). Salama III was not long in rebelling against this situation, and
excommunicated both the eccage Mahsantu and his chief partisan, the king Sahla Sellase, lord of Shewa, the region in which was
situated Dabra Libanos, the principal monastery of the order.
The crisis reached its height in 1846 when the abun was summoned to revoke the excommunications he had launched. Salama refused, and so the monks marched on the metropolitan's house and violated its traditional right of asylum. Salama was then
arrested and exiled to Tigre (3 June 1846) by order of the etege (queen, or wife of a king) Manan, who was anxious to preserve
order; Manan was the mother of the ras Ali II and governed the capital after having espoused in a second marriage the negus Yohannes III, nominal sovereign of Gonder.
In Tigre, the metropolitan was once again favorably welcomed by Webe, who, encouraged by his presence, reopened hostilities
against the ras Ali. But Webe was once again defeated, and his relations with Salama were not slow to deteriorate. In fact, Webe
tended to favor the Catholic missionaries (the Lazarists), in the hope that by so doing, France would support his designs on the supreme throne. Salama nourished so profound an aversion for the Catholic missions that he ended by maintaining relations with Webe's adversaries. In 1847 the metropolitan prudently retired to Dabra Damo, a monastery hewn out of rock, with a very difficult access, and excommunicated Webe. In reprisal, Webe seized the goods and the fiefs of the metropolitan, but toward the end of 1848, recognizing the impossibility of realizing his ambitions without the metropolitan's support, Webe went to Dabra Damo, where he succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with Salama. Webe then had to fulfil the condition that Salama had imposed on him: the
expulsion from Tigre of the Catholic missionaries.
Meanwhile, there rose the star of Kasa Khaylu (the future King of Kings Tewodros II), who passed rapidly from success to success,
so much so that by 1850 he ranked as the principal adversary of the ras Ali. One may deduce from the documents available that from 1849 Kasa Khaylu had allied himself with the metropolitan and passed for a partisan of the Christological doctrine defended by
Salama. Each of the two allies drew from this understanding the anticipated profits. After eliminating one after another almost all his
adversaries, including the ras Ali II, Kasa summoned Salama, who returned to Gonder on 1 June 1854. Shortly afterward, under Kasa's auspices, the new eccage became reconciled with the metropolitan. Finally, Kasa convened at Amba Cara, not far from Gonder, a council of the representatives of the various doctrinal tendencies. The council confirmed the Unionist doctrine, which was the one defended by the metropolitan, and rejected the contrary thesis. In conclusion, on 19 August 1854, Kasa proclaimed as official the doctrine adopted by the council, while Salama solemnly anathematized all the contrary doctrines. Having thus restored unity to the bosom of the clergy, Kasa prepared to combat his last adversary, Webe. He invaded Semen, Webe's traditional fief, and the latter hastened from Tigre. At the confrontation that took place at Darasge on 9 February 1855, Webe was decisively defeated, and the victor had himself anointed King of Kings by Salama in the church of Darasge Maryam, near the field of battle. The new sovereign of Ethiopia then took the royal name of Tewodros II.
In return for the support furnished to Kasa at the time of his winning the throne, Salama had obtained from him the promise that
he would support him in his struggle against his two principal adversaries: the groups of monks who continued to defend the
anathematized doctrines and the Catholic missionaries. It was thus that Salama first accompanied Tewodros to Shewa where the King of Kings, having subjected that region, imposed on all the local clergy the official Christological doctrine. In addition, Salama had
the Lazarist bishop Giustino de Jacobis expelled from Gonder, together with the other Catholic missionaries; further, he succeeded
in persuading Tewodros to welcome with goodwill some Protestant missionaries. But Salama's hostility to Roman Catholicism only
rendered more concrete the support furnished by France to the Catholic missionaries and indirectly intensified the support furnished by Great Britain to the Protestant missionaries and to Salama. Thus, from the beginning of the reign of Tewodros II, there arose a climate of tension between the negus and the metropolitan.
The relations between Salama and Tewodros, which had never been perfect, were not long in deteriorating because the sovereign's
great political plan contrasted with the interests of the Ethiopian church: Tewodros, who never concealed his contempt for the clergy, dreamed of creating a powerful empire, equipped with a large national army, which would have allowed him to subdue any
adversary and to repel Islam once and for all. He counted on realizing this plan by utilizing the resources of the church and reducing its influence on the Ethiopian people. This design could not be accepted by Salama. The violent and suspicious character of Tewodros contributed to the creation of a rupture between the negus and the metropolitan. This rupture became evident at the end of 1856 at the time of the visit to Ethiopia by the Coptic patriarch CYRIL IV (1854-1861).
This was a visit out of the ordinary on two grounds: first, because this was the first time that a Coptic patriarch had come to Ethiopia and, second, because Cyril IV already knew Ethiopia, for he had gone there in 1850 when he was called only Dawud and was no more than the superior of the Monastery of Saint Antony (DAYR ANBA ANTUNIYUS). On that earlier occasion, he had been sent to
Ethiopia by the patriarch PETER VII (1809-1852) with the aim of reversing the effects of a doctrinal order that had set Salama III in
opposition to part of the clergy and of asking the negus to contribute to the expenses that the patriarchate had to bear at Jerusalem to help the Ethiopian pilgrims. The details of this first mission are not known, but apparently it was unfruitful.
The high Coptic prelate's second mission to Ethiopia proved full of incident. The documents available are silent in regard to the precise aims of the mission, but the history of the Copts permits some deductions. The viceroy of Egypt, Sa‘id Pasha (1854-1863),
was inclined not to pursue in the south the policy of expansion adopted by his father, Muhammad ‘Ali. He had therefore downgraded the Egyptian administration over Sudanese territory and reduced his army in the Sudan to the level of a gendarmerie. This policy presupposed a friendly policy on the part of Emperor Tewodros II, who, however, did not cease to proclaim himself the enemy of Islam. Hence, Sa‘id thought to send Cyril IV to Tewodros with an offer of friendship.
The Coptic patriarch accepted this mission, for he, too, had a plan. In January 1856, with the aim of forming a national army, Sa‘id had decreed that all young Copts, like young Muslims, were to do military service. The Copts, who for centuries had been exempt
from any military obligation, were greatly disturbed by this decree, in which they saw only an indirect way of persecuting them. Hence, Cyril IV accepted the mission in the hope also of inducing Tewodros to intervene with Sa‘id and get him to revoke the decree.
The two objects of the mission were not attained; indeed, it had results opposite to those hoped for. From the time of his arrival in
Ethiopia in December 1856, the patriarch, in agreement with Abuna Salama III, drafted a letter in which Tewodros, accepting Sa‘id's
friendship, invited him to release the young Copts enrolled by force in the Egyptian army and declared himself disposed to receive from Egypt a certain number of civil and military "workers" (today called "consultants"). Suspecting that Cyril was in the service of Sa‘id as a spy and even a secret agent of Islam, Tewodros refused to sign the letter. His rage became fully manifest when Cyril expressed the desire to see the negus's troops; convinced of the justice of his suspicions, Tewodros had Cyril IV and Salama III imprisoned. Then he had the patriarch's baggage searched and plundered. Five days later, on 16 January 1857, following the intervention of the Ethiopian clergy, there was a public and solemn reconciliation. Recognizing that he had been too impulsive, Tewodros liberated the two prelates and allowed Cyril IV to bless him, but the patriarch was scarcely authorized to leave Ethiopia. In October of the same year, following a new dispute with Tewodros, Salama publicly excommunicated all those who had followed the negus in his actions contrary to the interests of the clergy. It was Cyril IV who put an end to this new crisis by raising the excommunication, and this, it is said, despite Salama's advice to the contrary. Shortly afterward, the negus authorized the patriarch's departure (November 1857), and in fact he returned to Egypt in 1858.
Salama's prestige continued gradually to decline. Tewodros inflexibly pursued the realization of his grand design and especially his plan aimed at reducing the prestige of the church to make it an instrument totally subject to the state. Since Salama and the clergy
had long striven against the proceedings of the negus, they were accused of being the origin of all resistance to Tewodros'
authoritarian regime. They replied by often accusing the negus of acting "like a Muslim." This tension reached its highest point in
1864: knowing that Salama was maintaining relations with his adversaries (notably Menelik, king of Shewa, and Gobaze, lord of
Wag), Tewodros had the metropolitan imprisoned on the amba (mountain top) of Maqdala, the mountain on which the King of
Kings was preparing to entrench himself to resist increasing difficulties in both foreign and domestic affairs. As for the clergy of Gonder, it had to stand by powerless at the plundering of the capital (1864) and its devastation (1966) by order of the negus himself.
The circumstances of the end of Tewodros II, who committed suicide at Maqdala on 13 April 1868 in the face of a British expeditionary corps commanded by General Robert Napier, are well known. But Salama III was not present at this event, for he had died in his prison at Maqdala on 25 October 1867 at about the age of forty-six years, sorely tried by the privations undergone during his imprisonment. Salama III remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of Ethiopia in the nineteenth century.
The successor of this metropolitan was Abuna Atnatewos.
ATNATEWOS (d. 1876)
Atnatewos was the immediate successor of the Abuna Salama
III, who died in 1867. On the death of Negus Tewodros II on 13
April 1868, at the end of a military campaign conducted against him
by British troops, the two principal rivals for the throne of Ethiopia
were Gobaze Gabra Madkhen, Wagsum (or lord of Wag), and his
brother-in-law Kasa Merca, master of Tigre. Each of them was well
aware that to have any chance of acceding to the supreme throne, it
was necessary to send a delegation to Cairo to obtain from the